Latin American Archaeology Database, University of Pittsburgh
URL: http://www.pitt.edu/~laad
Email: laad@pitt.edu
Machalilla Settlement Dataset
Alexander J. Martín
 
Machalilla Shell Inventory

The data files SHELL.TXT and SHELL.XLS contain data on the quantities of species and types of shells recovered from the 553 collection lots in the Machalilla National Park survey. SHELL.TXT is an ASCII text file; SHELL.XLS contains the same data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Each line represents one collection lot. There are 553 lines in the text file, each with 83 variables separated by commas. The variables are, in the following order:

1
Lot Number
2
Total number of shell fragments

Unworked Bivalve fragments (Pelecypoda)

3
Spondylus princeps
4
Spondylus calcifer
5
Spondylus sp.
6
Pictada mazatlanica
7
Pteria sterna
8
Arcopsis solida
9
Lyropecten subnodosus
10
Leptopecten tumbezensis
11
Arca pacifica
12
Pseudochama corrugta
13
Modiolus capax
14
Ostrea sp.
15
Ostrea tridescens
16
Ostrea fisheri
17
Prothotaca columbiensis
18
Perigplyta multicostata
19
Chama budiana
20
Dosinia ponderosa
21
Corbula ovulata
22
Tracgucardium procerum
23
Tellina planulata
24
Chione sp.
25
Tucetona strigilata
26
Donax dentifer
27
Unidentified unworked bivalve
28
Total unworked bivalve fragments

Worked Bivalve fragments (Pelecypoda)

29
Spondylus princeps
30
Spondylus calcifer
31
Spondylus sp.
32
Pictada mazatlanica
33
Pteria sterna
34
Prothotaca columbiensis
35
Leptopecten tumbezensis
36
Unidentified worked bivalve
37
Total worked bivalve fragments

Unworked Gastropod fragments (Gastropoda)

38
Thais melones
39
Crepidula onyx
40
Thais haemastoma biserialis
41
Thais calloensis
42
Turbo saxosus
43
Tegula verrucosa
44
Conus vittatus
45
Fissurella virescens
46
Cypraea arabicula
47
Nassarius versicolor
48
Natica chemnitzii
49
Natica elenae
50
Acanthina muricata
51
Bursa caelata
52
Pleuroploca princeps
53
Hexaplex ambiguus
54
Hexaplex princeps
55
Malea rigens
56
Phyllonotus brassica
57
Operculos
58
Isognomon recognitus
59
Siphonaria gigas sp.
60
Crucibulum scutellatum
61
Astraea babelis
62
Fasciolaria princeps
63
Purpura pansa
64
Strombus galeatus
65
Strombus peruvianus
66
Strombus granulatus
67
Vasum caestus
68
Distorsio decussata
69
Olivella columellaris
70
Cerithium sp.
71
Unidentified unworked gastropods
72
Total unworked gastropod fragments

Worked Gastropod fragments (Gastropoda)

73
Cypraea arabicula
74
Thais haemastoma biserialis
75
Strombus galeatus
76
Unidentified worked gastropods
77
Total worked gastropod fragments

Unworked Polyplacophora fragments

78
Chiton stokesii
79
Unidentified unworked Polyplacophora
80
Total unworked Polyplacophora fragments

Coral fragments

81
Pavona clavus
82
Psammacora stellata

Completely Unidentifiable Shell

83
Completely Unidentifiable Shell

The first line of the ASCII text file, for example, looks like this:

1,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,0,,,,,0,,,0,,,

This indicates that the data pertains to collection lot 1, which had no shell fragments of any kind, and hence does not display any shell counts.

On the other hand, the last, or 553rd, line of the ASCII text file is:

553,56,,,1,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,5,7,,,,,,,,,0,8,1,24,,1,1,,,,2,,,,,,,,,1,,,,,1,,,6,,,,,,,4,49,,,,,0,,,0,,,

This indicates that the data pertains to collection lot 553, which contained a total of 56 shell fragments. Of those, there were 0 unworked Spondylus princeps fragments, 0 unworked Spondylus calcifer, 1 unworked Spondylus sp., 1 unworked Pictada mazatlanica, 0 unworked Pteria sterna, 0 unworked Arcopsis solida, 0 unworked Lyropecten subnodosus, 0 unworked Leptopecten tumbezensis, 0 unworked Arca pacifica, 0 unworked Pseudochama corrugta, 0 unworked Modiolus capax, 0 unworked Ostrea sp., 0 unworked Ostrea tridescens, 0 unworked Ostrea fisheri, 0 unworked Prothotaca columbiensis, 0 unworked Perigplyta multicostata, 0 unworked Chama budiana, 0 unworked Dosinia ponderosa, 0 unworked Corbula ovulate, 0 unworked Tracgucardium procerum, 0 unworked Tellina planulata, 0 unworked Chione sp., 0 unworked Tucetona strigilata, 0 unworked Donax dentifer, 5 unidentified unworked bivalve fragments, and hence a total of 7 unworked bivalve fragments. There were 0 worked Spondylus princeps, 0 worked Spondylus calcifer, 0 worked Spondylus sp., 0 worked Pictada mazatlanica, 0 worked Pteria sterna, 0 worked Prothotaca columbiensis, 0 worked Leptopecten tumbezensis, 0 unidentfied worked bivalves, and hence the total of worked bivalves was 0. The sample also recovered 8 unworked Thais melones, 1 unworked Crepidula onyx, 24 unworked Thais haemastoma biserialis, 0 unworked Thais calloensis, 1 unworked Turbo saxosus, 1 unworked Tegula verrucosa, 0 unworked Conus vittatus, 0 unworked Fissurella virescens, 0 unworked Cypraea arabicula, 2 unworked Nassarius versicolor, 0 unworked Natica chemnitzii, 0 unworked Natica elenae, 0 unworked Acanthina muricata, 0 unworked Bursa caelata, 0 unworked Pleuroploca princeps, 0 unworked Hexaplex ambiguous, 0 unworked Hexaplex princeps, 0 unworked Malea rigens, 1 unworked Phyllonotus brassica, 0 unworked Operculos, 0 unworked Isognomon recognitus, 0 unworked Siphonaria gigas, 0 unworked Crucibulum scutellatum, 1 unworked Astraea babelis, 0 unworked Fasciolaria princeps, 0 unworked Purpura pansa, 6 unworked Strombus galeatus, 0 unworked Strombus peruvianus, 0 unworked Strombus granulatus, 0 unworked Vasum caestus, 0 unworked Distorsio decussate, 0 unworked Olivella columellaris, 0 unworked Cerithium sp., 4 unidentified unworked Gastropods, for a total of 49 unworked gastropod fragments. There were no worked gastropod fragments of any kind. There was also no Polyplacophora fragments of any kind, no coral, or completly unidentifiable shell.

Click here to download the file SHELL.TXT (52 Kb) or the file SHELL.XLS (222 Kb) and then ask your Web browser to save it to a disk. (Return here with your browser's BACK button.)


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